Valve keeper tool



May 11, 1943- v A. B. JUNE 2,318,866 VALVE KEEPER TOOL Filed Nov. 7, 1941 30 -INVENTOR Hue/QE r JUNE emu i /7 -MA lfd ATToRNEYs Patented May 1l, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE VALVE KEEPER 'IOOL Aubrey B. June, Seattle, Wash. l n Application November 7, 1941, Serial No. 418,169

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements i-n that class of hand tools now quite generally used for the placing of keepers on the' valve stems of the usual types of automobile engines; these keepers being in the form of split cones, and are applied to the valve stems for the support of the retainer disks upon which the valve springs seat to urge the valves to closed position; it being understood that for the removal of or placement of keepers on a valve stem, the valve spring must be lifted or compressed for the relative lowering of the valve stem below the spring seat or retainer disk, and it further being understood that the keepers have parts designed to interlock with the valve stems and the retaining disks are socketed to seat the keepers therein, and thus retain the interlocked connection.

Explanatory to the present invention, it will here be stated that there are, at present, various kinds or types of hand tools employed for this particular work, some of which have valve spring lifters incorporated directly therewith and intended to be used in conjunction wth use of the valve keeper tool, while others are independent of, but are required to be used in connection with some particular type of valve lifter. In this connection, attention is directed to U. S. patents to Hawkins, No. 1,909,175; H. W. Kulp et at., No. 1,996,726; and Clements, No. 2,001,707.

The hand tool embodied by this invention may be used in conjunction with most any of the common types of valve lifters, and is not to be considered as a par-t of any7 nor to be conned in use to any particular kind, so long as they give the necessary clearance for the application of the I keeper tool. However, the present tool is shaped to best accommodate the design of engines of the present-day types and to be most conveniently used with those types of valve lifters which are now on the market; it being required only that the valve spring lifter be of a kind to lift the retainer disk against the down pressure of the valve spring, to a height suiicient for the usual operation of projecting the' valve stem downwardly through and beyond the retainer disk or spring seat for applying the keepers thereto.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a tool for the placement of valve keepers whereby that particular work may be easily, quickly and conveniently accomplished,

and which takes into consideration the inconvenience of the location of the places of application of valve keepers, particularly in consideration of the fact that manifolds and other equipment as now applied to the engi-nes, obstructs the Cil vision and makes this application a matter of touch and knowledge of location of parts rather than of sight or full view operation.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a hand tool designed for the above stated purpose, which comprises a set of pivotally connected levers having hand grip portions at one end in angular divergence; one of the levers being equipped at its forward end with a pair of yieldable jaws, arranged to rest upon the valve tappet adjusting Inut directly below the retainer disk and valve stem, and shaped for securely holding the opposite halves of the cone-shaped keepers in position in the tool for the reception of the lower end of a valve stem between them, and the other lever being equipped at the corresponding end with an extension portion adapted to be disposed between the two halves of the keepers to hold them spaced apart for the reception of the valve stem, then to be displaced downwardly from between the held keepers by closing the hand grip portions toward each other to permit the yielding jaws to snap the keepers into place on the valve stem, and then, by the complete closing together of the hand grip portions, to cause the lower lever to serve as a pry for lifting the valve stem and keepers as applied thereto, into the socket of the retainer disk.

Still further objects of the present invention are to be found in the details of construction and combination of parts embodied by the tool and in the mode of use of the tool, as will hereinafter be fully described.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing; wherein- Fig. 1 is a perspective view 0f the present hand tool, showing the two halves of a split, conical valve keeper as applied to the opposed, yieldable jaws of the tool, and showing the applied keepers held in spaced relation by the extension portio-n f the lower, lifting lever.

Fig. la is a perspective View of one of the paired keeper holding jaws of the tool.

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail through a valve and its mounting parts, illustrating the manner of initially applying the present tool for the placing of a keeper on a valve stern; this view showing the valve spring lifted or compressed and the keeper retaining jaw at the near side of the tool removed for better illustration.

Fig' is a sectionall detail on the line 3-3 in Fig. l, showing the means for and manner in which the keeper halves are supported in the jaws of the hand tool.

Fig. 4 is a top, or plan view of the present tool, with the valve keeper members applied to the jaws ready for application to the valve stem.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail, similar to that of Fig. 2, showing the keeper as lifted by the tool into the socket of the spring seat or retaining disk.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail, ner in which the keeper is retaining disk socket.

Referring more in detail to the drawings- First it will be explained that the portion of the engine shown is merely illustrative of a typical arrangement of parts, and is not intended to be drawn to any particular scale, or to designate any particular engine. It indicates, at I, an engine block with passage 2 equipped with valve seat 3 against which a valve 4 may seat. The valve 3 has a stem il4 slidable in a guide housing 5. Surrounding the lower portion of the guide, and valve stein is a coiled spring E and this seats on a retainer disk which in normal use is functionally locked on the of the valve keeper. This keeper, as shown best in Fig. 6, is or" conical form, split axially to form two opposite halves gn8. which fit within a downwardly opening, conical socket 9 of the retainer disk l. The keeper is formed with a bore to it the valve stem 4 and each p rt of the keeper has one or more internal circumferentially directed shoulders IB adapted to seat in annular channels i2 in the stem to eiect the interlock.

The present tool comprises a pair of hand levers, here illustrated as being flat strips of metal, and designated as the upper lever I4 and the lower lever l5. These two levers are joined pivotally together by a pair of rivets I6 which, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, are transversely alined in order that the two levers will be held in alinement while at the same time permitting free pivotal action thereof. At the line of pivotal connection, the levers are given angular bends in the same direction, but with the greater angleof bend in the lower lever, as will be understood best by reference to Figs. 1 and 2. Thus, the levers are provided, respectively, with the divergng hand gripping portions Ilia and I5a which illustrating the maniinally seated in the are normally urged apart, as shown in Fig. 1, by

a leaf spring i1, which has one end fixed to the lever arm Illa and its other end bearing against the lever I5a. With the hand grip portions of the pivoted levers in maximum divergence, as in Fig. 1, the other end portions, designated at |41) and |529 will be engaged atly together.

Fixed to the end portion Ib of the upper lever and extending beyond the end thereof, is a pair of outwardly yieldable jaws I8 and |851.. These jaws are made of spring metal strips, set on edge, with their inner ends soldered, or welded, as at I9, to the lever and extended substantially beyond it. At their outer ends, these jaws have curved seats 20, directly facing each other, within which seats the opposite halves 8 and 8 of the conical valve keeper may be disposed, as illustrated best in Figs. 1 and 4.

To better retain the opposite halves of the valve keeper in the jaws, each seat is formed across the base portion with a horizontal shoulder 22, as will be understood best by reference to Fig. la.

Extending beyond the end portion |511- of the lower lever of the tool, is an extension 25. This is of such length and is bent upwardly at an stem through the mediacy angle with reference to the lever arm I5b, that it may serve as a spacer for the two halves 8-8 of the keeper to hold them apart preparatory to applying the valve stem between them.

In using the tool, first the two cooperating halves 8 and 8 of the keeper are placed within the yieldable jaws, as shown in Fig. 1, with the lever extension 25 disposed between them. The spring II between the hand grip portions Ida and |50l oi the levers then operates to hold the parts in this position while the spring jaws I8-I8a securely clamp the keeper members against opposite edges of the spacer 25. Then, the user, by holding the tool by the two-hand lever portions Ida and I5a.. places the tool in position, as shown in Fig. 2, with the lower shouldered portions of the spring clip jaws resting llatly upon the top surface of the valve tappet adjuster nut 3B on the valve tappet 3I which is located directly below the valve, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 2.

In the illustrations of Figs. 2 and 5. the valve spring is indicated as being lifted, but the means for holding it in this lifted position has not been shown. However, with the understanding that the valve spring is compressed by some suitable device so that it assumes the position of Fig. 2, it will be understood that the valve stem l may be projected down through and somewhat beyond the retainer disk 7, and its lower end portion then applied between the two halves of the keeper as shown in Fig. 2. Then the operator, by closing the hand grip portions of the levers together as in Fig. 5, will cause the extension portion 25 to move downwardly from between the keepers. against the nut 3E) as a lifter so that the keeper members still retained by the jaws and pressed against opposite sides of the stem. will be lifted up along the latter and will snap into place thereon with the shoulders Ei] of the keepers seated in the grooves I2 of the stem. When so applied to the stem, as indicated in Fig. 5, the upper end portion of the keeper will then be projected within the lower end portion of the retainer disk socket 9. It is only necessary then that the valve stem be lifted by pulling upwardly on the valve head 3, so that the keepers will seat themselves tightly within the socket 9 as shown in Fig. 6. During this valve stem lifting operation, the spring jaws continue to engage the keepers until finally seated so that they will not be accidentally disengaged. Then the valve lifter is removed and the down pressure of spring 6 will act against the disk 'l to clamp the keepers in place.

One of the most important features of the present device is the provision of the spacer, member 25 in conjunction with the pivoted lever I5, and in the angular relationship or" the hand grip levers which permits the relative lifting action of the lower lever while supported on the nut 3l.

This lifting operation takes place with the assurance on the part of the user that the keepers are already properly applied to the stem and need only be seated in the retainer disk socket. There is no guess work, or inaccurate placement of keepers possible once the tool is placed in position and the valve stem lowered through the retainer disk opening and between the keeper halves.

Furthermore, the angular formation of the hand grip levers makes the tool easily applicable to engines of present-day types and greatly ex-V pedites the work for which they are intended. Y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A valve keeper tool comprising upper and lower levers, disposed substantially in coextensive relatonship and pivotally joined together at a location within their outer ends, thereby forming hand gripping portions at the outer end of the tool; said hand gripping portions being in angular divergence and the inner end portions of the levers being normally engaged, a pair of outwardly yieldable jaws mounted by the inner end portion of the upper lever and extending therebeyond, and in opposed relationship respectively for the support therein of the opposite halves of a split valve keeper, and said lower lever having an extension at its inner end, angularly directed therefrom for disposition between, and to space the supported keeper halves apart for reception of a valve st em between them, and adapted to be downwardly displaced from between the keeper halves by the closing together of the hand grip portions of the levers for application of the keeper halves to the valve stem.

2. A valve keeper placing tool comprising subantially coextensive upper and lower hand grip rs; the lower lever being formed with an anjlar bend at a distance spaced from its end, and id upper lever resting on and having pivotal nection with the lower lever at the said bend, spring mounted between the hand grip pors of the levers to urge them apart, a pair of posed outwardly yieldable jaws mounted by :the upper lever and extended beyond its inner :end for the holding of the opposite halves of a split valve keeper between them; said lower lever having an extension adapted to be disposed tween the halves of the keeper as held by the Ws to space them for application to a valve m, and said extension being adapted to be wnwardly displaced from betweenl the keeper h `ves by closing of the hand grip portions tog her.

4' 3. A tool as in claim 2 wherein the jaws are 20 i med with supporting shoulders for the keeper halves, and wherein the said extension of the lower lever is adapted to serve, upon contact with a support, as a lifting means for the tool for the functional seating of the keepers.

AUBREY B. JUNE. 

